The Future of RFID Cards and Tickets in RATP Paris Public Transport

 

Michel Barjansky, now 66 years old, is a graduate of Ecole des Hautes Etudes Commerciales. After a few years as a junior consultant in marketing and advertising he joined Ratp in 1973. He went there from the responsibility for Market Research to the position of Marketing Manager. That included responsibilities in Communication and Design. Between 1985 and 1992 He held posts in various media enterprises in charge of Marketing & Development.

Since 1992 he has been associated with the "Projet Telebillettique", at RATP. That project, based on the Calypso specification, is now rolled out under the name of "Navigo".

In 1998 he joined the SIT department and took responsibility for the development of services based on the contact-less technology. He since that date has been active in research, standardization final development and commercial deployment.

From 2002 he was head of the "Business Development" entity, in charge of technology based new products and services, in the Innovative Customer Technologies of the Engineering Department.

Then, from 2008 he was "Innovation" Manager for the whole Engineering Department.

In October 2010 he retired. He retains consulting activities, working for AFIMB (Agence Française pour l'Information Multimodale et la Billettique, and standardization bodies.

Ratp, the leading French Urban Transport Operator and one of the main European, is reputed to be the first in the world among "Multimodal" Urban Transport Operators. It carries every year more than two and a half billions passengers. It operates in the Ile de France region: Metro, Buses, regional Railways and Trams. It manages more than 450 stations and 8000 bus and tram stops. Ratp's networks are growing both with traditional and innovative modes. Its annual turnover is more than 3 billions Euros.

 

It caters to more than 90% of the inhabitants of the Region each year and peculiarly to the more mobile and active of them.

 

In addition to being an operator, under the supervision of the STIF; Ratp, through several subsidiary is involved in planning and building rail, light rail and bus networks. It is currently developing its operator's activities out of Paris and out of France.

 

Following a tradition of technological innovation, as the way to developp services, Ratp has been in the smart card domain since 1988. Ratp was the main contractor of, the ICARE and CALYPSO European research and development projects, and is one of the main members of the Calypso Networks Association. Ratp, with its Ile de France partners, is currently moving its Contactless Smart Card Scheme, based on the results of these projects, to further extensions.

 

To day Ratp is working hard to make ITS a daily reality in the domain of Security, Passenger Information and Entertainment, and Ticketing and Customer Service. It is contemplating a strong initiative in the Intelligent Public Transport System domain.

 

It's unofficial motto, which tries to sum it up is, "enjoy you Urban Transport experience".